Apatity - minerals of "wide profile"

Humanity would not have a tenth of its knowledge and wealth if it had not learned to use minerals once. Fuel, drugs and weapons are far from a complete list of what could be obtained from them even to our distant ancestors.

And among their huge variety are apatites. These minerals are so widely used that without them our civilization can not be imagined.

These are minerals that have a specific crystalline structure. Their very name can be translated as "deception, mirage", as often apatite can be confused with other minerals. They are unique also because they are located on the very boundary that separates the living nature from inanimate matter.

So, various compounds of phosphorus are apatites. Minerals based on this element are widely used in industry, but it is a considerable part of our skeleton and teeth.

The fossils under consideration are formed practically for all types of geological processes, and therefore occur in igneous, metasomatic and sedimentary rocks. Simply put, everywhere.

For industrial purposes, sedimentary apatites are more often used. Minerals on their basis provide 90% of world production of phosphates.

Most of the deposits are located on the territory of Russia, Canada, the USA and Brazil. They are used in the production of fertilizers, food additives for livestock, in the manufacture of gunpowder and drugs. Without them it is impossible to manufacture fluorescent lamps and some types of lasers.

As you can see, apatites are minerals, without which the modern industry would simply stand up. In addition, the same phosphorus is known to chemists as a powerful catalyst, without which many important reactions do not take place.

Thus, all countries on whose territory there are powerful deposits of these minerals have an important strategic reserve.

Our country has the largest reserves of apatite ore (along with the US). There are 20 deposits that geologists estimate at 1.5 billion tons of ore, which is about 8% of the world's reserves.

For this year, the number of explored deposits is estimated at 700 million tons. The largest field of apatite is in the Murmansk region (more precisely, a complex of seven production enterprises).

It must be remembered that there are less pleasant circumstances:

• The quality of domestic raw materials (both explored and forecasted) is rather low;
• Extremely negative situation in the field of logistics;
• Most of the extracted raw materials are exported, not actually providing domestic agriculture;
• High cost of fuel, which turns out to be a high cost of the final product in its transportation;
• The FAS's inability to do anything with the monopolization of the domestic apatite market.

All this leads to the fact that our consumers are suffering. Take, for example, all the same farming. Farmers in European countries receive several times more mineral fertilizers (including those produced from our apatites).

As a result, the yield of cereals in France is more than 50 quintals per hectare, while this figure does not exceed 18 centners.

We hope you learned about what apatites are. A mineral of this kind is an extremely valuable and important resource for humanity.